Diary day 2 - Arrival to Geneva

Travel Journal Day 2

It was a beautiful morning to wake up to on my second day in Geneva. The sun was shining and I woke up super excited to finish preparing for my move. I knew this was going to be a super long day so I mentally prepared myself. We returned to the little café close to the hotel to have our usual breakfast. I must admit this went rather badly because the waitress disappeared for about fifteen minutes and I was waiting at the counter in quite a confused state. Anyway, following our usual coffee and croissant my mother and I headed over to the BLRU accommodation office in Augustins to collect my keys and made our way (with my humongous suitcases) back to Carouge.

We leave my things in my new room and I couldn't wait to start rearranging and organizing things. I swear that is one of the most fun parts of moving somewhere! Anyway considering I brought over too many things from the UK, we had to return all the way back to the Hotel in order to collect the rest of the things. We stopped in Manor, an incredible department store which has everything you could ever need ranging from clothing, to beauty products, to house products to food. I looked for any things I may need such as glasses, sauce pans and cutlery.

Somehow time flew and in Geneva all restaurants shut at 2PM. It was already passed that time so we ended up eating at 4PM when we were back in Carouge, in a café called Hansée. This is a very sweet local café that serves super healthy food. The staff is very friendly and they have a wide range of salads, bagels and soups.

After lunch, my mother and I made our way to IKEA to buy the remaining things. It was strange to go to IKEA by bus as in both the UK and in Italy the store is far from the city centre. At this point it was already 5. 30 and we had a plane to catch at 9PM so everything was very rushed. This was very unfortunate as I usually spend hours in IKEA imagining what my future house will be like. However we quickly gathered a few important things, such as my beautiful bonsai plant called Bob, and went all the way back to Carouge to leave the things. At this point my arms were slowly falling off.

A few minutes later we were back on the bus for the hundredth time and heading back to the airport. I was leaving Geneva with about 80% of things ticked off my checklist and with a big heart. I fell in love at first sight with this incredible city and I was super excited about moving on the 15th of September no matter its expensiveness.

What I would have done differently :

As you may have read, my second "moving in day" was completely hectic and unnecessary, so yet again I would advise to plan your day(s). If you have two days like me then maybe do all the necessary things on one day and exploring on the second day, therefore things may not seem as rushed.

Secondly, don't go backwards and forwards on public transport like a lunatic like I did! Do everything you need to do in the centre first and then take everything (with an Uber if you have too much stuff) back to the accommodation - This really saves effort and mental health - I was so drained after everything!

Photo 1: The Jet d'Eau of Geneva - It was such a beautiful day that the sky just amalgamated with the water - it was incredible.

Photo 2: The view from my apartment. Still to this day, I am mesmerized by this fantastic view of Mont Salève.

Photo 3: Carouge Marché - The Italian quarter is filled with little cafés and boutiques.

Photo 4: Patisserie in Carouge - Do not be fooled, this little cake was worth 4 CHF, but I must admit it was delicious.

Photo 5: Carouge - Still the Italian quarter with the weather looking slightly gloomy.

Photo gallery